


The Bee's Knees

by cyanloversupreme



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: But like a possible continuation of canon, I guess not really AU, M/M, There's like a brief mention of veep stuff, but you literally don't need to know anything about veep to understand it, fake dating au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-13
Updated: 2017-06-23
Packaged: 2018-07-14 22:23:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 14,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7193261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cyanloversupreme/pseuds/cyanloversupreme
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Basically a fake dating AU because I wanted fluff with these idiots and there was none.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The beginning

President Selina Meyer’s press team had released details of her daughter’s sexuality, and it had given her a critical bump in the polls. It appeared that Americans were favoring equality more than ever, and it was showing. Politicians were scrambling to appear friendly towards the LGB demographic, even if it was just a facade. The election for positions in congress were much closer than usual, so every possible vote counted. It was in this scramble that Richard Gansey found himself in the office of his mother’s chief of staff, Bernard, a month before the election for the Virginia senate seat.

Gansey sat down on a chair that seemed to belong in a museum more than the space it currently inhabited. From the tone of Bernard’s voice, he knew that something big was happening.

“Well, now that you’re settled in, I have a question for you,” Bernard said. All the years of working on various campaigns showed on his face in the form of various wrinkles. Overall, he was a very old man doing a young man’s job. He was sitting at a desk that seemed older than time itself. However, it was probably from when Bernard first started working in a position that required such a desk. 

Once Gansey nodded his head, Bernard continued.

“Selina Meyer’s poll numbers have skyrocketed after her daughter recently came out as gay. All over the country, more and more people are supporting candidates that support these people. Now, this election is incredibly close, as Virginia is a swing state. We need all the advantages we can get, so that your mother can win,” he said. He cleared his throat. 

Gansey sat there, trying to process what exactly his mother’s chief of staff was going to ask of him. He was not especially knowledgable about political statistics, and he didn’t know what to do in regards to the polling data that had just presented to him. There was a brief, yet tangible moment of silence.

“Gansey, would you be willing to come out as gay or bi or something so as to give your mother’s numbers the bump needed to win?” Bernard sat, waiting expectantly for an answer.

“But… I’m not gay?” Gansey said, rather confused. He didn’t understand why he was the person who had to bolster his mother’s campaign. He loved her to the end of the earth, but he did not understand why her campaign would ask this of him. 

“Now it would be preferable to hire someone for my staff that fits in that demographic, however we are looking to make this rather obvious so that the media will latch on to it.”

“But wouldn’t Helen be better suited for the job? She’s older, and she knows what she’s doing,” Gansey said, trying to maintain his mask of charm in the face of this odd request.

“Generally, yes, however she has a boyfriend,” Bernard responded.

“But I’m with Blue,” Gansey said, still confused as to how this decision had been made. 

“Yes, however, Helen’s relationship has been much more public, as she is older. In fact, she’s the media’s darling. I didn’t even know that you were with this Blue girl. We can’t get her caught up in this, so it falls to you Dick. Bisexuality is a thing, you know.”

Gansey sat there for a second, processing what exactly was being asked of him. The gentle ticking of an old desk clock was the only noise that could be heard. It was so silent that a bee’s wings could have been heard.

“It will be just for one month, and then you can go back to whatever madness is in your life,” Bernard said. “Think about how you’ll be helping your mother.”

Gansey made noncommittal noise, in an attempt to try and delay when he’d have to make a decision. Unfortunately, Bernard interpreted this noncommittal noise as one in affirmation of his plan. Bernard stood up.

“Thank you for helping us all out. Think about how you’ll be helping America,” Bernard said, showing Gansey out of the office. “Make sure you come here tomorrow so that I can instruct you on how to handle this.”

Gansey was then left alone in the hallway, puzzled, confused, and more than frustrated.

~~~

“Hello again Dick. It’s nice to see you in support of your mother’s efforts,” Bernard said, letting Gansey into the office. 

Gansey sat down in the same chair as the previous day, hoping to keep the interaction as short as possible. Bernard sat down in his desk chair, as usual. He handed Gansey a manila folder stuffed to the gills with papers. The only think stopping a paper avalanche was a green rubber band that wrapped around the middle of the folder, stretched to the limit.

“Well. Your mother’s analytics team has done plenty of research regarding this issue, and I believe that these papers should help you. I was planning on doing a simple press release, maybe you’d say a few words about general rights,” Bernard said, making an excessive amount of eye contact.

“Well if that works with you, I suppose that’s what I’ll do,” Gansey said. He was making his way out of the office when Bernard’s phone buzzed louder than a thousand bees. And Gansey knew what the buzzing of a thousand bees sounded like.

“Goddammit!” Bernard shouted, loudly. “Your mother’s numbers have dropped because she supported replacing plastic utensils with corn starch replacements. I knew this would come back to haunt her!”

“Do I have anything to do with this?” Gansey asked, hoping to get back to the library as soon as possible.

“Well. If we were to, say, change this coming out announcement into an announcement that you, I don’t know, have a boyfriend, then that could get us back to where we would. I don’t think a simple statement will cut it. We need the media talking about this.”

Bernard’s co-worker walked into the room, looking for something.

“Esther. Don’t you think that this kid having a boyfriend will boost us to where we need to be to win?” Bernard asked, handing her a sheet of paper containing the analytics. Gansey had no idea how it had been printed in the past 3 minutes.

“Well, looking at this paper, I would have to agree with you. I think that it would be the best way to avert a political train crash. This is basically our only option that doesn’t involve stuffing the ballot box,” Esther said. She handed the paper back to Bernard.

“I don’t have a boyfriend though,” Gansey said. He stood next to the door, wanting to be back in Henrietta, the place he now thought of as home. Faking a romantic relationship was not how he envisioned spending his gap year. Even putting a hold on the road trip with Blue and Henry was a lot different than what he’d expected. 

“Well, call up one of your friends, perhaps they’ll agree to help you,” Esther said, walking out of the room.

“How long do I have before you “go public” with a nonexistent story?” Gansey asked, struggling to keep his charming demeanor. He wanted to make sure that he had control over the situation before it was out to the public.

“A couple of days. Anyway, it won’t be a long relationship. It’ll only last a month,” Bernard said, trying (and failing) to reassure Gansey. 

Bernard then showed Gansey out of the office, once again leaving Gansey standing in the hallway. 

~~~

“Yo yo Gansey man!”

“Hey Henry,” Gansey said, sitting at a table in a restaurant. He tried to make out Henry’s voice over the bustle of the diner.

“So what’s up Richie-boy? How’s the child bride?” Henry asked.

“Well, there have been a few changes,” Gansey said. “My mother’s chief of staff wants me to date a guy to boost her poll numbers.”

“Is that right? Well, why are you calling me?” 

“Are you willing to date me for a month?”

“Well I suppose that we have been through a lot together.”

There was a pause on Henry’s end of the phone. Static and stray conversations flooded Gansey’s ears. Finally, Henry finished was he was going to say.

“Why not, Dick three?”  
~~~

The most difficult part of the whole ordeal was temporarily breaking up with Blue. Gansey sat there for a few moments, creating a game plan. Finally, he dialed Blue, while holding his breath.

“What’s new with the campaign?” Blue asked, instead of saying hello.

“Well, that’s what I was calling you about,” Gansey said. He took a deep breath in, trying to avert disaster. “I accidentally agreed to date Henry to boost PR for my mother’s campaign, which means that I can’t date you for a month.”

“Well. That was a surprise,” Blue said.

“Yeah,” Gansey replied, hopeful that what he’d said went over well. There was a large silence from the other end of the phone as Blue thought of what she would respond with. Finally, she decided.

“I guess we can put it on hold for a month, but you have to answer my questions,” Blue said.

“All right.”

“How do you accidentally agree to date someone?”

Gansey proceeded to tell her the entire story, from the day he left Henrietta to his blunder of making a noncommittal noise that sounded committal. Finally, their conversation ended (after around 10 minutes of “you hang up!” “no you hang up!”), and Gansey left the diner.

Having squared away that last bit of business, Gansey sent an email to Bernard, telling him that all systems were a go. He stumbled back to his mother’s DC apartment and took a well earned nap.


	2. Museum Madness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Henry arrives and they go on a fake date to the museum. Afterward they do boring domestic stuff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to be away from the computer for a month, so I thought that I may as well give my one reader an extra-long chapter.

Henry arrived the next day, holding a very large suitcase. He’d probably overpacked. Gansey was tasked with showing him around the (rather large) apartment. 

 

“This is my parents’ room, but they aren’t here very often because it’s the campaigning season,” Gansey said. He pointed at another door. “This is Helen’s room, but she lives with her boyfriend now, so we won’t see her that often either.”

 

Henry was used to not seeing his parents that often, so he didn’t question the sleeping arrangement. He was just excited to spend time with Gansey, which had what he’d aimed for multiple times while attending school. He wanted companionship. After Gansey pointed out various decorative items of note (there weren’t that many, given the apartment was decorated in a modern style), they arrived in Gansey’s room.

 

“This is my room, and it’ll be where you’ll stay, too. I'd put you in Helen's room, but I'm scared of what she'd do to me if I did,” Gansey said while opening the door to his room. They both walked in.

 

Gansey’s room here was much less messy than his room at Monmouth Manufacturing, as he rarely slept there. Various maps of historical interest adorned the walls, however sunlight had bleached them so they were harder to recognize at first. The bed (which was rather large) sat in the middle of the room. A small globe sat atop a black dresser, more dust sticking to it than the corpse of a dead welsh king. 

 

Books piled up on the nightstand, most of them about inane topics that only Gansey would care about. On top of the stack was a picture of middle school Gansey wearing a long dress, crying next to a guy that appeared to be sleeping. Gansey noticed Henry’s reaction to the picture and blushed.

 

“Well, uh, you know I went to Aglionby in middle school. And my voice was the last to change so I was, uh, cast as a girl whenever we did a Shakespeare play. Because there were no actual girls to play the parts,” Gansey said, his usual charm completely gone in the face of this embarrassing information. His face was the color of a bright tomato.

 

Henry began to laugh. Hard. To the point that Gansey asked if he was having an asthma attack, despite the fact that Henry did not have asthma. When he finally calmed down, Gansey started helping him unpack. It took a total of an hour because Henry had managed to take overpacking to the next level. However, once they had finished, they sat there for a few minutes, just talking.

 

“How’s good old Henrietta doing?” Gansey asked. He was laying on one side of his bed, staring at the ceiling. Henry noted that he looked almost like a prince in the way that he lay there.

 

“The same as usual Gansey-man!” Henry said. He sat on Gansey’s bed, staring straight ahead. He didn’t elaborate, as he wanted to make sure that what he said wouldn’t be what he didn’t mean. He felt slightly awkward, like he was inhabiting a parallel universe. It was similar to his own, but not quite the same. He wasn’t used to this. He wasn’t used to gaining such easy access to the life of Richard Gansey, the boy that up until recently had been a mystery. A rather attractive mystery.

 

“So what do you think___.”

 

A text alert from Gansey’s phone sliced through the conversation. Gansey sat up, and read the text. Henry noted how Gansey’s lips moved ever so slightly while he read.

 

“Well, we have to go to my mom’s office so we know what the plan is,” Gansey said, looking up from his phone. He started sliding his boat shoes on while Henry put on his black sneakers. They both walked out of the apartment together.

 

~~~

 

“The plan is simple. Be seen on a couple of dates, maybe make a few social media comments on your Snap Snip Chat or your Instapic, or whatever, and we’re all set,” Bernard said. He wasn’t exactly tech savy. Henry was slightly frightened of Bernard, possibly because he reminded Henry slightly of a bulldog. Henry did not have good experiences with dogs.

 

“Well, where would we go on a date to?” Gansey asked. He was rather new to the whole dating-for-the-sole-purpose-of-publicity thing. Henry watched him as he asked this question.

 

“I would suggest that you look at a tourist book and proceed from there,” Bernard said, continuing to make far too much eye-contact than necessary. The door to the office opened, and he shifted his gaze toward it.

 

“Polls are down in Halifax county, we need to do something quickly,” Esther said, walking into the office. “Before it turns into a disaster, preferably.”

 

“Yes, I definitely agree,” Bernard said, standing up from his desk. “Well these two are going to go on a date to try and get some numbers up. Maybe we can steal a few votes away from the Democrats. Lord knows we need it right now.”

 

“Oooooh. To where?” Esther asked, while handing Bernard a large stack of documents pertaining to the latest polling data. She turned and looked at Henry and Gansey.

 

Both Henry and Gansey drew a blank. They sat there without an answer for quite some time before Bernard intervened. Henry was grateful that the awkward moment was over.

 

“They don’t know yet,” Bernard said. He set the folder of data on his desk and turned back to face Esther.

 

“Well…” Esther said, thinking about ideas. “I suggest the Newseum because I’ve heard so many reviews about it.”

 

“That sounds like a good idea. Thank you, Esther,” Gansey said, with his usual charm. He stood up, and Henry followed suit. “We’ll see you tomorrow for the press briefing.”

 

Gansey held the door open for Henry, and they left the office together. Instead of awkwardly standing in the hallway, Gansey knew what he was doing, and led the way. 

 

~~~

 

The pair entered the museum, and while walking to go purchase their tickets, Gansey got distracted by two electronic news zippers. Various headlines of the day were scrolling past, informing the viewer of the issues that faced the United States.

 

“Ryang would love this,” Henry said, quietly. He stared at the endless stream of headlines that came pouring through the screen. 

 

“Why?” Gansey asked, while he began to walk toward the ticket counter. Henry assumed he asked because he didn’t know the Vancouver crowd all that well. The Vancouver crowd had some hidden depths. For example, everyone in that group was either bi or gay. Most people didn’t know that, and Henry wasn’t exactly keen to blurt out that information.

 

“He once made a drinking game out of the presidential debates,” Henry said. Ryang was an interesting person. He pretended to hate drama, but he in fact wanted to hear all the details of every story. Ryang was also the one who had suggested that Henry take a more political role at Aglionby. If it weren’t for Ryang, Henry wouldn’t be here with the extraordinarily wonderful Richard Gansey.

 

They walked up to the ticket counter, and Henry handed Gansey some cash to make the purchase. Gansey waved his hand away, and that made Henry, somehow, like him even more. 

 

“I’m the one making you fake date me, so I have to pay.”

 

~~~

 

After a certain amount of exploration, Gansey found the news history gallery. Before long, he was caught up in reading the front pages of various historical news papers. There was a light smile on his face, and he was completely focused on the newspapers in front of him. Madonna herself could have been in the room and Gansey wouldn’t have noticed.

 

Henry was less enthusiastic about the historical aspect of the room, but he enjoyed watching Gansey’s enthusiasm. He was smiling simply because Gansey was smiling, and it was interesting for Henry to see Gansey so unpolished. 

 

Yes, Gansey had been himself before, like at the toga party, but this was different. He had never been around Gansey when he was this passionate about something, this well rested, this excited about life. It was something new to watch.

 

Sure, Gansey had been obsessed with dead Welsh kings, but there was less of a sense of duty surrounding the newspapers. He was interested for the sake of being interested and nothing else. His life wasn’t on the line. This aspect of Gansey interested Henry. He wanted to get to know this Gansey better. He wanted to spend an awful lot of time with this version of Gansey.

~~~

 

Eventually, they left the news history gallery, and they continued on to the Pulitzer Prize winning gallery. Henry _loved_ photography. Perhaps modeling had made him more appreciative of how hard some photographers worked to capture something so wonderful. 

 

Henry staring very intently at _The Soiling of Old Glory_ when Gansey walked up beside him. The stood there side-by-side for a moment, before Gansey spoke.

 

“What do you think?” Gansey said, quietly, so as to not disturb the other visitors.

 

“About what?” Henry whispered, confused. He continued to look forward, trying not to get completely distracted by Gansey. It was difficult. He could smell the mint leaf that Gansey was currently chewing. He noticed their close proximity.

 

“The photography.”

 

“It’s interesting. People trying to maintain the status quo of segregation claimed to be for maintaining the American way, but they in fact used their own flag in a very disrespectful way to get there. The contradiction is interesting,” Henry said. He sounded more like a student than a person on a date in an art gallery. He didn’t want to sound stupid in front of Gansey.

 

“It sure is contradictory,” Gansey said. He stood there for a while, and it appeared to Henry that he was deep in thought. Henry hoped that he was realizing the full scope of his privilege, much like the time he’d asked Gansey to sign his petition. Gansey was oblivious to his privilege. He just thought that the picture looked symbolic.

 

They moved on to another picture, but they remained side by side. Their hands brushed every so often, reminding Henry that he was on a date. A fake date, but a date none the less, with one Dick Gansey.

 

Eventually, the museum closed, so they ended up having to leave before they were completely done exploring every exhibit. They started to walk back to Gansey’s house on the sidewalk in the warm DC evening. Yes, the could have taken the subway, but Gansey was frightened of large, dark spaces since his last experience in a cave, and Henry wanted to be outside.

 

They walked along each other in silence, both absorbed in their thoughts. Unlike the awkward silences that had happened in the campaign office, this was a comfortable silence. They were both happy, even if it took a crazy scheme to get there.

 

Gansey linked his elbow in Henry’s. When Henry looked at him he explained.

 

“We’re fake dating, so we need to seem like it, right?” Gansey said, in a rather nonchalant way. They continued to plod down the sidewalk.

 

“Yeah, of course,” Henry said. He had to keep reminding himself that this was a _fake_ date with his _fake_ boyfriend. It was tempting to get swept up in the illusion, but he couldn’t. 

 

Gansey unlocked the apartment door, and both of them tumbled into the apartment. They both shed their shoes and coats, and walked into the interior.

 

~~~

 

They were sitting at the dining room table when Gansey’s stomach growled. Loudly. They both laughed a bit.

 

“I guess we forgot to eat lunch,” Gansey said. “Do you want me to make you anything? I have to warn you though, I once messed up while making easy mac.”

 

“Why don’t we cook together then?” Henry asked. He knew that he would probably be a slightly better cook, but he also didn’t know how to use the Gansey’s kitchen.

 

“That sounds like a good idea,” Gansey said, getting up. They walked to the kitchen together.

 

~~~

 

Twenty minutes later, and Henry was lecturing Gansey on his cooking techniques in the most playful way possible. They were cooking spaghetti, but Henry was also baking a cake on the side. The original plan was to allow Gansey to cook the spaghetti under minimum supervision, while Henry focused his talents on the dessert, but Gansey proved to be so bad at cooking that Henry ended up basically having to do both.

 

Gansey would stir the spaghetti, and begin to lose himself in his thoughts. Henry would have to get him to focus on what he was doing. It became very clear to Henry why Gansey was so bad at cooking. He would get distracted too easily. Henry pledged to make Gansey a better chef by the end of the month.

 

Gansey started to add butter to the cake batter under Henry’s supervision, but he managed to do this wrong as well.

“You’re adding in cold butter, Dick Three. You should add in room temperature butter, it makes it better,” Henry said. Gansey blushed, so Henry said “it’s okay though. You’ll figure it out.”

 

“If you say so,” Gansey said, continuing to stir the pasta.

 

Eventually, they finished cooking the pasta, and Henry put the cake in the oven. They sat down in barstools facing the marble counter, and they began to eat. 

 

“Wow Henry, this is really good,” Gansey said. He appeared to thoroughly enjoy his pasta.

 

“Oh, thank you,” Henry said. He blushed very lightly, but Gansey was too wrapped up in his meal to notice.

 

“Yeah. Can you keep teaching me how to cook?” Gansey said. Henry thought about what this would mean. It would mean that he would be spending even more time with Gansey, and that they would be in closer proximity. The thought of doing something so boringly domestic appealed to Henry.

 

“Yeah, I think that_____.” Henry got cut off by the buzzing of an old kitchen timer. The cake was done baking. He took it out of the oven and set it on the counter. Gansey stood up and tried to get at it, but Henry managed to keep him away.

 

“You’ll burn your mouth Dickie boy, it’s too hot right now.”

 

They sat in the kitchen, waiting for the cake to cool, both lost in their thoughts. The comforting silence was back. Henry kept sneaking glances at Gansey before pretending to check on the cake. Gansey stared out the window, lost in thought. Eventually, Henry rewarded Gansey’s patience with a slice of German chocolate cake. The stood in the kitchen, eating their slices. Gansey was impressed with Henry’s cooking skills.

 

Henry had to stop Gansey from eating the entire cake by putting it on top of a shelf. Gansey could still technically reach it, but it would be much more difficult to eat from that height.

 

~~~

 

Eventually, they settled down for bed, earlier than Henry would have admitted to his friends. He was rather tired from the adventure, and from the cooking that came after it.

 

“Should I sleep on the ground Richard-man?” Henry asked, yawning. He was wearing his usual pajamas: a Madonna t-shirt and his underwear.

 

“Because I made you do this, I think you at least should get the bed. I’ll sleep on the floor,” Gansey said, using his practiced politeness. He was wearing an entire pajama suit, which was rather unnecessary in the DC heat.

 

“But this is your house, and it would be a shame for you to have to sleep on the floor in your own house,” Henry said, fighting back with his own form of politeness. They continued with this sort of politeness judo until Gansey interjected.

 

“What if we both slept in the bed? It’s large enough for both of us, and I don’t think this will end any other way,” Gansey said, diplomatically, while climbing underneath the covers.

“If you insist Richard Man,” Henry said, walking over to the side of the bed that Gansey did not currently occupy.

 

“If you’re fine with it, I’m fine with it,” Gansey said. When Henry nodded, Gansey took off his glasses and put them on the nightstand.

 

“Alright, Gansey-boy,” Henry said. He got into the bed, careful to occupy the minimal amount of space necessary, so that Gansey would be comfortable. Gansey turned out the lamp on his nightstand, and both attempted to sleep. Gansey slept on the opposite side, facing the wall. Henry stared at Gansey’s resting form for a while before rolling onto his back. 

 

Henry stared at the ceiling, various hypotheticals flashing through his mind. He couldn’t stop thinking about Gansey. Gansey always occupied his thoughts before he went to sleep, but tonight it was worse. He stared at the ceiling, blushing. It was going to be hard to fall asleep.


	3. pressing press conference

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They finally make their big announcement.

Gansey’s mother sat in front of the camera, wearing her usual navy skirt-suit. Esther adjusted her makeup while Bernard began to explain what exactly was going on. Gansey and Henry stood in the corner, observing the situation. Gansey was nervous, both for the political implications about what was to happen, but also for how much his life was going to change.

 

Gansey sat down in a chair that was just out of view of the camera. He knew what the plan was. First, his mom would give her speech to get people to vote for her and then he’d corroborate her story. Easy as pie. 

 

“So ma’am, all you’ll have to do is give a short speech to butter up your voters and then we’ll be home free,” Bernard said, inspecting the wall behind Mrs. Gansey. He handed her the speech on a piece of crisp, cream paper.

 

“Wait. Why does it say here that my son talked to me about being bisexual. Last I recalled, Richard was not. Why is this in the speech? I didn’t authorize this!” Mrs. Gansey said. She looked frustrated at her staff.

 

“As we’ve seen with the president, young voters want a more liberal agenda. I had Candice,” Bernard paused for a second. “Were is Candice?” He looked around the room.

 

“She’s in her office working on some election analysis,” Esther said, looking up. She then continued to finish the makeup adjustments.

 

“Can you get her in here?” Bernard said.

 

A few moments later, a young 20-something woman walked into the room holding a folder. Her hair was all over the place, and it appeared that she had been surviving solely on coffee for 3 days.

 

“Essentially, by giving a balanced speech, you could in effect gain young, liberal votes while keeping your core conservative demographic. You see, you can’t win the election without gaining at least a part of the millennial vote. I’ve crunched the numbers a million different ways, some of them more dubious than others. This is the only way,” Candice said. She adjusted her glasses and stood there, awkwardly, for a moment. 

 

“But isn’t it risky? I don’t understand how that would work,” said Mrs. Gansey. She was still sitting in the old chair in the even older office in a new city that happened to be in a relatively new country.

 

“What Candice has proposed to me is that we put the part about your son being bisexual in the middle after some vague buzzwords that both parties want to hear. Then the liberal people will tune out because, boom, you have their vote, nothing more to see. But your core voters will continue to watch to see you basically say everything they want you to hear,” Bernard explained.

 

“Okay. Do you really think that this is going to work?” Asked Mrs. Gansey. She seemed worried about how the speech would go. Bernard tried to calm her.

 

“I drafted up a speech that I think will do the trick, but the question is do you really think that you can use the right tone to deliver it? Make sure that you use the correct tone especially on the line about career politician excuses. That’s a buzzword,” Bernard said, starting the camera. 

 

“Bernard, I’ve been in politics for 21 years now, I think I can read a piece of paper.”

 

~~~

 

“We are gathered here today to make an announcement. Instead of focusing on policy that doesn’t help real Americans, or excuses made by career politicians, I want to focus on a more personal story. As you all know, these United States are made up of people. People of all different races, religions, stories, and sexualities.

 

My son, Richard, has recently told me and the rest of my family that he does indeed have a different perspective on the events that are currently happening in this country. He has told me that as a bisexual person, he would like to see my campaign move forward instead of backwards. And move forward my campaign will! 

 

How will we move forward? I will protect! I will protect the 2nd amendment rights of the citizens of this great nation, and I will protect minorities such as the religious and those like my son. I will ensure that your rights are protected and that pc culture does not compromise your rights. I will do these things, unlike a career politician. So please, make the right choice, for both the America of today and the America of tomorrow. Vote Gansey. Thank you.”

 

The camera then shifted from Mrs. Gansey to Richard Campbell Gansey III. He sat in a chair slightly to the left, in a perfectly poised manner. He delivered his speech in a charming manner.

 

“I don’t want to make this about politics, I want to make this about people. One person in specific has captured my heart, and he is my former classmate Henry Cheng. When I first met Henry at school, I did not expect to fall in love. In fact, we barely talked until we began to discuss politics at the school that we both attended. It is from the perspective of wanting to take a more active political role that we both grew together and one day our friendship turned into something else. It is because of this, not because of my mother’s political agenda, that I am coming forward with this. I hope that one day people like me and Henry will feel comfortable in this country. Please help make this country a place for people to live in. Vote Gansey. I’ll see you at the press conference at noon today. Thank you.”

 

~~~

 

Henry and Gansey stood at the door, waiting to enter so that the press conference could begin. Gansey was staring absentmindedly out of a window until Henry said something.

 

“Your tie is slightly crooked,” Henry said. He looked directly into Gansey’s eyes. Gansey looked back into his eyes.

 

“Oh, is it?” Gansey asked. He sat there and didn’t do anything.

 

“Can I adjust it for you, just to make sure that we look our best, bro?” Henry said. His voice was hopeful.

 

“I don’t see why not,” Gansey said. He stepped slightly close to Henry.

 

Henry then tightened the tie. The whole time, Gansey was looking into Henry’s eyes. He didn’t know why, but he kept getting lost in them. Perhaps it was just the human condition, to accidentally stare too deeply into people’s eyes all the time. The only other time he’d ever gotten lost into someone else’s eyes was with Blue. It was a strange day.

 

~~~

 

Henry, Gansey, and Gansey’s mother walked into the room for the conference. The amount of people in the room was unusually high for a press conference at this time and during this election. Soon, the questions got rolling.

 

“Is there any specific policy that will be proposed in light of this?” Asked a reporter.

 

“Not that I know of now, but I will be making sure to follow my principles and the principles of this great nation,” said Gansey’s mother. She said it in the most vague manner possible. The only way it could have been vaguer would be if she answered the question with “stuff and things”. 

 

“When did you two start dating?” Asked a woman in the back corner of the room.

 

“Well… uh… you see… the thing is…” Gansey was at a loss for words. He kept replaying the incident in the hallway, but he couldn’t seem to come up with an answer to this question. He tried and tried but for some reason simply could not.

 

“We’ve been dating for about 2 months, but it hadn’t gotten serious enough to say anything until now. We didn’t want to clutter up the news with something unnecessary,” Henry said, quickly. Gansey turned and looked at him, thankful that he’d been saved. “The reason why Richard boy is so flustered is because he’s used to keeping in a secret.” 

 

“How will this impact the Gansey campaign?” Said a man, in the center of the room, Gansey’s mishap forgotten.

 

“We want to balance many different agendas, but we do plan to follow the “protect” policy that I outlined earlier this morning. You can consult my website for further details,” said Gansey’s mother.

 

“What are your future plans together?” Asked someone who was sitting in the back. 

 

“We’re going to see where this relationship takes us. I think that it’s amazing that I’ve found someone like me. We’ll be dating for a while folks, don’t worry,” Gansey said. He was trying to be quick on his feet to make up for the mistake that he’d made earlier. Henry took his hand, and Gansey felt a zing in his heart. It was strange. 

 

~~~

 

“That conference went well. It could have gone better, but it went well. Now, we have to really sell it. That’s why we’ve set up a picnic for you two tonight. All you have to do is talk, but the press will think it’s a romantic outing,” Bernard said, looking through yet another analytical paper surrounding the election. He was sitting at his desk again, buried up to his neck in work, much like every other person working on the campaign.

 

“Okay. When does it start?” Asked Gansey. He wanted to be on top of things; he didn’t want to slip up like last time.

 

“We’ll drop off the basket around 6:00. All you’ll have to do is walk to a park. Easy as pie,” Bernard said. The room was quiet for a long time, until Bernard spoke again. “Now go away, I have more important work to do right now.”

 

~~~

 

The pair had walked back to the house quietly, and were sitting around in silence. It wasn’t for lack of thoughts, it was just neither felt like talking. _What if I mess up this picnic_ thought Gansey. _What if Henry hates me. What if this doesn’t work out._ Gansey was deep into the dark ocean of his thoughts when a knock on the door shoved him back into reality. Henry walked to the door to get the basket. Gansey watched him.

 

Two minutes later, Henry came back, holding the most stereotypical picnic basket in existence. He set it down on the counter, careful to keep it intact. Henry then turned to face Gansey.

 

“Well, it looks like we better get going,” Gansey said. He stood up from his position in his chair, and stretched. 

 

“Yes it does Richard boy,” Henry replied. 

 

~~~

 

When the two were finally changed, Henry was wearing blue Bermuda shorts and a spice girls t-shirt. Gansey was wearing trousers, a polo shirt, and true to form, his boater shoes. Henry linked his arm with Gansey’s, and Gansey linked his arm with the picnic basket. The were ready to face the world.


	4. picnic plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The two go on their first fake date since the press release.

“So. Where do we sit?” asked Gansey. The pair had arrived at their picnicking destination and were now at a loss of where to sit. 

 

“Maybe… over there?” suggested Henry. They walked over to a relatively flat patch of grass, where Henry lightly placed the blanket. They sat down, unsure of what to do. Gansey started opening the basket.

 

“What kind of sandwich do you want?” asked Gansey. 

 

“What types do you have?” replied Henry.

 

“BLT, turkey, some type of vegetarian, fluffernutter, pb and j, a suspicious panini, and ham and cheese,” said Gansey. 

 

“I’ll take the suspicious panini, Richard boy,” said Henry. Gansey handed him the sandwich and then went back to searching for his own sandwich. Henry watched him from his spot on the picnic blanket.

 

Gansey emerged from the picnic basket after what felt like thousands of years, holding a turkey sandwich. 

 

They sat there eating for a while, Henry wanting to bring up what their plan was for the next few days. However, he kept looking at Gansey. Gansey was eating in the way that you’d expect someone with excessive grooming to. He looked almost graceful doing something so simple as eating.

 

Henry noted that the setting sun shined through Gansey’s hair making it look like he almost had a halo. He looked golden, in contrast to the red clouds above. Gansey was sitting with his left leg extended and his right leg bent. His right shoe almost touched his thigh, and he looked relaxed. 

 

_Wow,_ thought Henry _, he looks so… good._ Henry couldn’t muster the words to describe how Gansey looked in the moment. However, the words to describe how he felt about it were even further away. Henry was drowning in his thoughts about Gansey, thoughts that he knew Gansey didn’t return. Henry knew that Gansey was straight. It was rather obvious. However, that didn’t stop him from admiring Gansey

 

“We should kiss,” said Gansey. His voice pulled Henry out of his thoughts. Gansey had a false aura of confidence about him. If you didn’t know Gansey, you’d assume that he was perfectly comfortable, but Henry had spent long enough with Gansey to know that he was unsure. 

 

“Wha.. what?” Henry said, surprised. _Could he like me too?_ Henry thought. He was hopeful.

 

“Well, for the cameras,” Gansey said. He moved closer to Henry.

 

“Oh. Yeah,” Henry said, his heart falling. “Of course. For the cameras.” _Of course, he’s straight, why did you think otherwise,_ thought Henry.

 

They sat there again, but this time the silence was awkward. It almost suffocated the two of them.

 

Gansey leaned forward and grabbed the back of Henry’s head, initiating a kiss. Henry deepened the kiss, justifying it in with the potential of it getting caught on camera. He just wanted it to be realistic. That was all. For sure. 

 

At first it was awkward, as Gansey had never kissed a boy before. He was too overpowering at first, however, eventually both were kissing with an equal amount of power. Henry enjoyed the kiss, perhaps a little too much. Too soon, however, Gansey pulled away. Henry stared at Gansey’s lips, instantly wanting more. He sighed silently.

 

“That. That was nice,” Gansey said. His false confidence was gone, and in the place of it was a slight shock. “I can’t believe I just did that,” he said, almost breathlessly.

 

_Neither can I_ , thought Henry. He felt the energy of the kiss tingling through him. He tried to distract himself from Gansey by concentrating on a squirrel. Once he had convinced himself that he in fact would not try to get another kiss on impulse, he turned back and tried to act natural.

 

They went back to eating as usual, as if the kiss had never happened.

 

~~~

 

Eventually, they had to walk back home. Gansey put all of the excess food back into the basket (there was a lot of it), and Henry started folding up the blanket. They stood up and began to walk home. It was dark outside, but neither of them worried too much.

 

The picnic blanket was tucked underneath Henry’s right arm, but his left hand was free. He grabbed Gansey’s hand. Gansey gave him a slightly surprised look that seemed to ask _why?_

 

“It’s for the cameras,” Henry blurted. Gansey nodded slightly. The picnic basket rested in the crook of his left arm, his right hand held Henry’s firmly. Henry was blushing in the dark, and he hoped that Gansey didn’t notice.

 

They walked back to the apartment like this, and when they got inside they were still holding hands until Gansey had to put the contents of the basket in the refrigerator. Henry couldn’t take his eyes off of Gansey.

 

~~~

 

“Okay. I’m going to go call Blue,” Gansey said as he walked off to Helen’s bedroom. He closed the door behind him, softly. 

Henry paced around the room, but he eventually sat in the nearest chair. He couldn’t help but think of how good Gansey looked. Not only casually, but also in formalwear. The thought of Gansey in a suit wouldn’t leave him. That and the kiss.

 

He kept replaying the kiss in his head, even though he knew rationally that it didn’t mean anything. He knew logically that it was all staged for a camera somewhere, but he felt something different. He felt lighter yet at the same time the kiss had made him fall even deeper in love with Gansey. 

 

Henry needed to talk to someone. He texted a quick greeting to Cheng2 and then stared at the ceiling, waiting. After what felt like an eternity, his phone buzzed.

 

“Hey man, what’s up,” Cheng2 said in greeting.

 

Henry sighed. He didn’t even know where to start. He stared out the window and then continued the conversation

 

“You know why I’m in DC, right?” Henry said. 

 

“Yeah. You’re with that Gansey guy on vacation, right?” Cheng2 replied. 

 

“Yeah. Well,” Henry said, hesitant to say what he though about that “Gansey guy”.

 

“Well what?” Cheng2 asked.

 

“Uh. So. I agreed to pretend to date him?” Henry said. He was more flustered than he would have liked. He was usually the collected leader of his friend group, but this was throwing a wrench in that image.

 

“Oh. Huh,” Cheng2 said. Henry could picture him scratching his eyebrow like he used to when they had conversations in person. When they were dating. Back when Henry was exclusively Henrysexual. 

 

“Yeah,” Henry said. There was a silence on the other end of the phone. Suddenly, Cheng2’s voice cut the silence.

 

“Why?”

 

“I’m his friend, that’s what friends do,” Henry said. That was the explanation that he had rehearsed for hours.

 

“I don’t believe you,” Cheng2 replied. “I’ve known you for too long to not know when you’re lying.”

 

“Fine. He’s funny. And smart. And good looking,” Henry said. He sighed loudly. 

 

“Huh. You like him, don’t you,” Cheng2 said.

 

“Well of course I do, he’s my friend,” Henry replied.

“No. I mean you want to date him,” Cheng2 said. There was again a large silence. It felt larger than the distance between the two phones.

 

“Yeah. I guess I do,” Henry said. He thought for a moment before adding, in almost a whisper, “I’m sorry.”

 

“No. It’s fine. I mean we aren’t even together anymore, it’s cool,” Cheng2 said. He sounded like he was hiding pain. It wouldn’t have been noticeable to anyone but Henry. But Henry noticed it.

 

“Yeah,” Henry said. He stared out the window.

 

“You always liked him, didn’t you,” Cheng2 said. Henry tried to find the right words to diffuse the situation, but language was never his forte. It was after this deep pause that Cheng2 continued. “I mean it was obvious. You invited him to that toga party. I mean… I guess… I don’t know. But it’s not really my problem anyway, is it.”

 

“I still loved you,” Henry said, trying to reassure Cheng2. But the words fell flat the moment he spoke them and they seemed hollow. They wrapped up the conversation, trying to avoid the topic. But Henry knew. Henry knew that he’d hurt him. He’d hurt Henry Broadway or Cheng2 or his ex or whatever the hell he was supposed to call him. That feeling coated his mouth and wouldn’t leave. It tasted bitter. He tumbled down into his thoughts. Most of them were negative.

 

Gansey stumbled into the room, smiling, of course, after his call with Blue. This smile left his face when he saw Henry.

 

“Henry, are you okay?” Gansey asked. He walked over to the chair where Henry was sitting.

 

“Yeah. I guess,” Henry said. The words conveyed a different message than the voice that said them.

 

Gansey sensed that everything was not in fact okay and he slowly guided Henry back to their shared bedroom. Gansey sat and patted the bed to indicate that Henry should sit next to him as well.

 

Henry slumped over and rested his head on Gansey’s lap. Gansey slowly ran his fingers through Henry’s hair.

 

“What happened?” Gansey asked. Henry stared straight ahead. He didn’t want to tell Gansey what happened on the phone call. There was a long silence. Henry was beginning to relax because Gansey was messing with his hair. Suddenly, Henry felt guilty again. He felt guilty for enjoying this moment, he felt guilty for hoping to date a straight boy, and most of all he felt guilty for being dishonest. Both to Cheng2 and to himself.

 

“It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it, I understand,” Gansey said. He continued to run his fingers through Henry’s hair. Henry sighed gratefully. He didn’t want to let Gansey down. 

 

“How was your talk with Blue,” Henry asked, hoping that hearing about Gansey’s actually relationships would make Gansey less… crush-worthy.

 

“It was good. She talked about her house and looking for colleges mostly,” Gansey said. To Henry, every word Gansey said was worth listening to. He could have been talking about the proper way to dry paint and Henry would have still clung to every word. 

 

“Do you miss her?” Henry asked, quietly. 

 

“Of course. But I guess I miss her less than I thought. But I still really want to see her,” Gansey said. Henry considered what Gansey had said. He wished that he’d felt that way about Cheng2. If only he’d decided to continue with him. If only he had decided that Cheng2 was good enough. Then maybe he would have felt better. The whole situation would have been much less awkward. 

 

Henry didn’t have the words to convey what he really meant, to convey what he was feeling, to convey the bitterness caught in his throat. So instead he simply said “Yeah. That makes sense”.

 

Gansey started to say something, in a different tone than before. A tone that conveyed more love than friendship, although Henry didn’t know if he was imagining it. Gansey said “You know that I’m always___.”

 

But the last of the words were never said. They were interrupted by the ringing of Gansey’s phone.

 

“I’m going to have to get this,” Gansey said. He left the room, leaving Henry slumped on the bed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for making this so angsty??? My brain was apparently on a role today. Also, I try to update this but it's also difficult because I have a pretty busy schedule and a talent for procrastination. I will, however, do my best to update semi-regularly. Thank you for reading and also shoutout to @hellagayronanlynch and @bookerfly on tumblr.hell for helping me with my random questions. Y'all are the best!


	5. if it suits you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To quote a tumblr post: "rich people be like 'oh my shoe untied, I’ll buy a new one'"

“Hello?” Gansey said into the phone.

 

“Dick. I need you and your boyfriend to get over here as quickly as you can tomorrow,” Bernard said. Well, practically shouted.

 

“Will do. Does 9:00 work?” Gansey asked.

 

“Yes. See you then,” Bernard said, hanging up.

 

Gansey strolled around the apartment, not wanting to go back and see Henry quite yet. He was still digesting what had happened on the phone call that he’d had with Blue. He began to remember it:

 

_“Gansey, you need to talk to him.” Blue said, forcefully. Gansey had just talked about the tie incident._

 

_“But why? We both know what’s up,” Gansey said, confused. He didn’t know why he needed to talk to Henry._

 

_“Do you. It sounds like you… you like him,” Blue said. Gansey didn’t believe her. Sure a guy could make your heart zing and you could enjoy kissing him, but it wasn’t like he really had a crush on Henry._

 

_“But I mean I’ve never really been into guys,” Gansey said. Blue snorted_

 

_“The way you’ve sometimes looked at Adam tells me differently,” Blue said._

 

_“Well. I mean. I guess. I’m not gay, Blue,” Gansey said. He knew he wasn’t. He was still into Blue. So he couldn’t be._

 

_“Bisexuality_ is _a thing,” Blue said. Gansey stood there for a moment. He contemplated Blue’s words._

 

_“I guess. But Henry isn’t. He’s straight Blue.”_

 

He was pulled out of the memory by the sound of the sink. Of course. He needed to brush his teeth.

 

Henry was brushing his teeth and staring into the mirror when Gansey walked in. Gansey then began to brush his teeth as well. His hand brushed up next to Henry’s and he felt the familiar zing in his heart. Maybe Blue _was_ right.

 

~~~

 

Both Henry and Gansey settled down for the night, each taking their place in the bed. They were both staring at the ceiling when Gansey remembered something from earlier.

 

“We have a formal dinner tomorrow. That’s what Bernard called about,” Gansey said. He thought that Henry had gone to sleep when Henry finally replied.

 

“Okay.” Henry turned to Gansey, almost like he was going to say something else. But instead he just turned back to looking at the ceiling.

 

“Well… goodnight,” Gansey said in response. He looked over at Henry. _He’s not… bad looking. At all,_ thought Gansey. Gansey then turned over and looked at the ceiling. He couldn’t get the memory of the kiss out of his head. Sleep evaded him.

 

~~~

 

Gansey woke up tangled in Henry’s arms. He smiled. Gansey was enjoying the moment. Sun was streaming into the window, and he had just barely begun to enjoy the situation when the alarm went off. Henry woke with a start, and Gansey pretended to be asleep. 

 

“Gansey man! We have to get up,” Henry said. Gansey felt the weight on the bed shift. Henry had probably gotten out. He rolled over so that he was facing the wall. Gansey opened his eyes to see Henry’s staring back. Henry was smiling slightly.

 

_Henry’s eyes are nice,_ thought Gansey. _They really are. Whole galaxies could be contained in them. The whole universe maybe._ Gansey sat up and rubbed his eyes. It was too early for this bullshit.

 

~~~

 

They walk to Bernard’s office together, Gansey taking Henry’s hand. In the name of being realistic about their relationship. Nothing more. At all.

 

Eventually they arrived to an even more hectic office than the one that they had seen two days previous. Phones were ringing loudly and papers were everywhere. Someone sneezed and dropped a folder full of papers, making them fly upward. 

 

“Hello.” A very tired Bernard greeted them as they entered the office. “Well we don’t have much… time. So let’s get started.”

 

Henry and Gansey settled into their chairs and Bernard went behind his desk. Gansey was violently resisting the urge to stare at Henry.

 

Bernard started again. “The press is eating up your relationship. I don’t know why. Apparently a website called… uh… tungle?”

 

“Tumblr!” shouted Candice, behind an avalanche of election analysis. 

 

“She keeps getting overloaded with papers, but if we went wireless like she keeps suggesting, I don’t think that I would ever be able to understand how to work the system,” Bernard said. “Anyway, where was I?”

 

“You were talking about Tumblr,” said Gansey. He was growing more impatient with Bernard, but he didn’t exactly know why. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that the office was very loud and it was early. Or maybe Bernard was just wasting time. Or maybe he wanted to go back outside so that he’d have an excuse to hold Henry’s hand. It was probably the latter, but Gansey didn’t want to admit it to himself.

 

“Oh yes, Tumblr. People on Tumblr have been absolutely enthusiastic about the two of you together! It seems that we’re getting a strange population of support here. People who are 18-25, which is just the demographic that we have been chasing,” Bernard said. He took a drink of water from the glass on his desk. “There was a photograph of the two of you kissing?”

 

At that, Gansey looked at Henry. Henry was lightly blushing, and Gansey didn’t know why. He sat there puzzled for a moment, when suddenly it hit him like a ton bricks. _He doesn’t want to be seen as gay. He’s embarrassed by this,_ thought Gansey. _He’ll never want to be with me_. His heart fell a little more. It _was_ all just an illusion. He shifted in his chair slightly and then tried to concentrate more on Bernard’s words.

 

“It went viral,” Bernard continued. “This is the biggest success that I have seen in this population of voters in a while. They’re making things called GIFs____.”

 

“IT’S PRONOUNCED JIF!” shouted Candice.

 

“You’re wrong,” said Esther. “It’s pronounced GIF. Like gift but without the T.”

 

“The creator said it’s pronounced JIF,” said Candice. She looked up from her papers and gave Esther a pointed stare. She didn’t look like she was fucking around.

 

“So? The G stands for Graphic,” Esther said. She started walking towards Candice so that she could somehow prove her point more. “Are you gonna open up a Jraphi___.”

 

“Ladies, please. We need to get back on task,” Bernard said. He shook his head while the two women quietly apologized and got back to work. “As I was saying before the interruption, youth are really into this. Our critical demographic. Of course, we need to keep this prominent on the internet. Which means more dates and more appearances. Starting with your mother’s fundraising gala tonight. You two will show up, look good, and then you’ll go home. Gansey?”

 

“Yes?” said Gansey. He shifted in his seat, uncomfortable. He was still moping about the whole Henry not being gay thing.

 

“You might be asked to give a small toast, depending on the climate. We want to do what’s best for the campaign. Just make sure that you’re ready for anything,” said Bernard. He started writing in his planner. “So a car will pick you up at eight. I assume that you both have formal wear?” asked Bernard

 

“Well I wasn’t expecting a formal event, but I can have a suit sent to me from Vancouver,” said Henry. 

 

“No, no, it’s perfectly fine. I’m sure that Mrs. Gansey will be willing to pay for a suit for you. If anything, we can just charge it to the campaign,” Bernard said. 

 

_But isn’t that… a questionable use of campaign funds?_ thought Gansey. He didn’t voice his thoughts out loud. It wasn’t the Gansey way.

 

~~~

 

“Does I one look good in this one?” Henry said, spinning around slowly, in the suit. Gansey tried not to stare too intently. It was hard. Henry looked good in a suit. 

 

“Y-yeah. You do,” Gansey said. He didn’t usually stutter. Why was he acting like this? He wanted his regular old head back. He wanted to be subtle and charming again. Not like… this.

 

The pair was at a suit store, trying to pick something out for Henry. Gansey was reclined on a couch; his feet were propped up, casually, on the coffee table. The entire store reeked of money.

 

Henry looked into the mirror intently. “I don’t think it’s quite right,” he muttered. Then a little louder he said “I’m sorry, I just want to look good for this?”

 

“Yeah, of course,” Gansey said. Unlike Bernard, he didn’t mind Henry taking a lot of time to do something. Especially not when that something was shopping for formal wear. _Why do people complain about shopping with their wives. This is kind of fun,_ thought Gansey. _He’s not your fucking wife. He’s not even gay. Calm down._ Gansey sighed. He was getting tired of this internal conflict already. Sure, he’d felt something _kind of_ like this with Blue, but this was much much stronger.

 

Henry nodded at Gansey and then retreated back into the dressing room. Gansey was just about to pull out a phone when the owner of the store walked up to him.

 

“Do you happen to be Senator Gansey’s son?” asked the store owner. He was surprisingly young.

 

“Yeah?” replied Gansey. He didn’t like where this was going.

 

“Oh! Is that the Henry that you’re dating?” 

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Oh my god! My boyfriend is going to flip out when he hears that you were here!” said the store owner. He looked very excited.

 

“Oh. That’s cool. Tell him that I said hi,” Gansey said. He felt slightly awkward in the situation, but it was okay. He wasn’t as charming as he would have liked to be, but he was a bit flustered by the course of events. First Henry in a suit and next someone recognizing him.

 

“Of course!” said the store owner. 

 

Henry walked out that moment, looking even better than before. Gansey blushed slightly, and he hoped that no one could see. However, the store wasn’t dark, despite having dimmed lighting, so it was an unlikely case that his blush was ignored. 

 

Henry was wearing a grey suit that seemed to fit his body perfectly. The black tie he was wearing only made it look better. Gansey gave into his urge and he stared at Henry for a good 20 seconds. He moved his feet from the coffee table and leaned forward in his seat so that he could get a better look.

 

Finally, the store owner broke the silence. “That looks good on you. Do you want me to alter that quickly?”

 

“That would be good, if you can,” said Henry. He walked toward the store owner.

 

“Of course. Let me just measure you,” said the store owner. “So are you Henry Cheng? Of modeling fame?”

 

“Yeah, man,” said Henry. The store owner was busy putting pins into the suit and making alterations.

 

“That’s so cool!” said the store owner. No one could think of anything else to say, so they all just sat there awkwardly until it was time for the store owner to actually do some sewing.

 

“So, you’re going to have to get out of this and then I’ll alter it for you and then we’ll be all set,” said the store owner. Henry walked back to the dressing room and re-appeared a minute later holding the suit. The store owner made fast work of altering the suit and he was done in no time.

 

“Okay. So if you just pay, we’ll be done,” said the store owner. He walked behind the stainless steel counter so that he could ring them up.

 

“Of course,” Henry said, handing over his credit card.

 

“No no, I’ll pay,” Gansey said. He felt guilty about forcing Henry to spend money.

 

“No, really, it’s fine,” Henry said.

 

“Okay,” Gansey conceded. He didn’t want to make a scene.

 

The suit was then payed for by Henry. It was put into a bag by the store owner, and the pair left the shop.

 

Henry grabbed Gansey’s hand, and Gansey tried not to let his thoughts run away from him. This was going to be a long four weeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... uh... I know nothing about fashion at all so I really hope I got this right? I read somewhere that you wear black suits for only weddings or funerals but also I have not a clue if that's true? Suspension of disbelief I guess.


	6. preparation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Henry and Gansey prepare for the gala thing.

The walk home was uneventful to Henry, but he still felt preoccupied with Cheng2. Henry Broadway. He didn’t know what to say after their fight, but he felt like he needed to patch things up. He just didn’t know how to. He’d never dealt with a situation like this before. He’d only ever been with Cheng2 and that had been keep on the proverbial down low. It wasn’t exactly… acceptable for the two to have been dating, at least as far as his family was concerned. So he never told anyone about it. He didn’t even understand why he’d decided to pretend to date Gansey. It just undid all the work that he’d done to be acceptable. He was quickly overflowing with regret. Regret about Cheng2. Regret about what he’d decided to do with Gansey. Regret about thinking that this whole situation with Gansey would lead to anything except more problems. 

Henry held Gansey’s hand in his own, aware that he was only making the situation worse. He was just furthering and illusion and eventually he would have to wake up from that illusion. Gansey would go back to Blue. He would. Anyway, Gansey was straight; it didn’t even matter if Gansey was single. It was never going to happen. 

Even though it was summer (and very hot and humid) Henry felt cold inside. He dreaded the formal dinner. He didn’t want to have to walk around with Gansey because he knew that if he did he would be consumed by the illusion. He didn’t want that to happen. So instead of trying to strike up a conversation, he just concentrated on Gansey’s hand.

The reached the apartment Gansey held the door open for Henry when the entered. Instead of sticking around to chat to Gansey before they had to get dressed, Henry made a beeline to his phone. He needed to have a conversation with Cheng2.

~~~

Robobee > you around?

Cheng2 > Yes. Why.

Robobee > well. we need to talk

Cheng2 > I cant really to you right now on the phone. social event

Robobee > Can I text you?

Cheng2 > sure

Robobee > I’m sorry I hurt you.

Cheng2 > huh

Cheng2 > ok

Robobee > I don’t even know what I'm doing.

Cheng2 > neither do i  
Robobee > Broadway, I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to do that. It was really an accident. I mean…

Cheng2 > i guess im just frustrated that you didn't tell me. you could have. you had plenty of time. you could have told me. it would have been better that way.

Cheng2 > instead of you lying to yourself

Cheng2 > i really liked you. maybe even loved you. but you never did love me did you. you never liked me in that sort of way

Robobee > No! It’s not like that! At first I did! We just drifted apart? I never lied to myself.

Cheng2 > i dont believe you

Robobee > Yeah.

Cheng2 > im just very frustrated. i thought that you were better than this.

Robobee > I’m not doing this for me. I’m doing it for Gansey.

Cheng2 > keep telling yourself that.

Robobee > Why are you being so bitter about this? I don’t understand

Cheng2 > have you thought about the fact that what you do affects others. not just gansey. while you were off with him and his… pals we needed you. 

Robobee > Of course I know that

Cheng2 > i mean really

Cheng2 > you don’t

Cheng2 > you never really did

Robobee > I have to go.

~~~

Henry set his phone on the counter. He wanted to make things better with Henry Broadway. He really did. It was just… hard to. He began to feel guilty again. His mood somehow soured even more and he began to feel mopey.

Henry looked at his watch and realized that he needed to start getting ready for this gala thing. He ambled back to the room that he shared with Gansey, and he started putting on the suit. However, he did not know where Gansey was. All the better. If he saw Gansey, his inner conflict would simply grow even larger. Not that it would matter. I’m just some stuck up jerk who’s lusting after a straight guy, thought Henry. I can’t even hold down a relationship with Cheng2. Or Henry Broadway. What am I even supposed to call him anymore. 

He tumbled back into negativity, thinking about all the things that he could have done for Cheng2 but didn’t. He was frustrated at himself for not being a better boyfriend. A better person.

After he was dressed, Henry went into the bathroom to make sure that his outfit didn’t look like complete shit. He stood there for a few minutes, not wanting to have to face Gansey quite yet. He ran the tap and washed his face with water, to make him snap out of his moodiness. Finally, he opened the door and stepped out into the living room.

He saw Gansey standing by the window in a pinstripe suit in what was somehow both a casual and a formal stance. It was the stance of someone who knew that the world belonged to him if he only asked correctly. Henry blushed a bit. Gansey looked good in a suit.

“Oh, hi Henry!” Gansey said, overly cheerful. Henry walked closer to Gansey.

“Hi,” Henry said. His voice stopped randomly, making for an awkward pause. “Uh, do I look okay?”

“Yeah. But… uh… your tie?” Gansey said. He put his hands in his pockets.

“What about it?” Henry said. He looked into Gansey’s eyes. They looked like they had many secrets locked behind them. Secrets that would never emerge. They looked nice. They did not look like limpid tears.

“It’s not straight. Do you mind if I, uh…” Gansey said, clearing his throat. He was blushing slightly. 

Goddamnit. He blushes at even the thought of being gay. Why do I like this guy? thought Henry. However Henry’s words conveyed a completely different message. “Sure. If you want to.”

Gansey placed his left hand on Henry’s chest and he grabbed the tie with his right. He then moved his left hand to help adjust the tie. It was only about thirty seconds, but to Henry it felt like a lifetime. He was close enough to Gansey to be able to hear his heartbeat. If he had turned his head the right way, he would have been able to kiss Gansey. The very thought of that made him blush.

“Are you okay, Henry?” asked Gansey, out of the blue. 

“Yeah. Why?” Henry said, fidgeting with his pockets.

“You just seem…. Oh, it’s nothing,” Gansey said. 

Henry nodded his head and then walked back to the bathroom to comb his hair. 

~~~

When Henry was finished, he walked back into the apartment to signal to Gansey that he was ready to go. Gansey was standing by the counter. In the exact spot where Henry had been texting Cheng2 earlier that day. Henry slowly walked up to the spot next to Gansey. Gansey was holding his phone. Henry cleared his throat.

“What are you doing with my phone?” said Henry, in a frustrated manner.

“I was. I was just…” Gansey floundered.

“What were you doing?” Henry said, this time more harsh. He snatched the phone back from Gansey’s hand. It was the argument with Cheng2. Henry’s heart fell. These were going to be a tough four weeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idk why I keep making angsty stuff? I started this to make sure that there was fluff in the category but it's angst? I don't even know. Just rest assured that I'm not going to suddenly quit writing this fic after this chapter.


	7. (ง •̀_•́)ง

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gansey realizes that he's an asshole.

“I… I swear to god that it was nothing. I just…” Gansey stood there, trying to explain himself. His heart beat quickly, but this time not out of affection but out of fear for what was about to happen. He swallowed.

 

“You just what?” Henry said, very clearly angry. It was almost out of character for Henry to be this angry, as Gansey had never seen it before. He was used to Henry just being a laid back guy who never really got angry, even when things like racist insults where being hurled at him. 

 

“I swear that I was just worried about you, that’s it I mean I really just_.” Gansey tried to explain again. He realized in that moment that he had no justification for what he did. Sure he wanted to figure out how to cheer up Henry, but that didn’t really seem to cut it as a legitimate explanation, at least in the moment.

 

“Do you realize how much that crossed the line?” Henry nearly shouted. Gansey felt like he was in an icy ocean of guilt. He was treading water but he almost felt submerged. He felt like he was going to drown from the feeling.

 

“Well… I uh…” Gansey tried again, but this attempt at explanation was weaker than the last. 

 

“I came here. Out of my own free will, to help you. And this is how you repay me?” Henry said, this time devastatingly quiet. Gansey realized how much he had hurt Henry. He didn’t know what to do.

 

“I’m… I’m sorry,” Gansey said. It was the only thing he could think of, but it was repeating in his mind, almost like there was a stock ticker reading off _I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry_. 

 

“Bro. That’s not going to cut it,” Henry said. Instead of sounding nice and affectionate, the bro sounded like it was covered in ice. Henry turned away from Gansey. Gansey could see his shoulders visibly shake. 

 

“I mean… I’ll do anything to make it up to you,” Gansey said. He didn’t know what that would entail, but he was ready to do it so that Henry wouldn’t feel so bad. 

 

“I really don’t think that you can,” Henry said, quietly. 

 

“I’m… sorry about the fight?” Gansey said, referencing Henry’s earlier argument with Cheng2. He didn’t know what else to say, but he didn’t want silence to happen. Silence scared Gansey.

 

“How far did you even read,” Henry said, more like a statement than a question.

 

“Well… Cheng2 seemed like a good friend of yours and I’m sorry to have been the cause of the ending of the friendship,” Gansey said. He felt awful about that aspect. Cheng2 and Henry seemed like very close friends. The fact that he had come between that made him feel even more awful than before.

 

“Gansey… I… I…” Henry seemed like he was trying to say something important, but he paused. There was a gaping silence for a few moments. “You know what. I don’t want to talk to you anymore right now. Can we just go?” Henry starting walking to the door.

 

“I… I guess,” Gansey said. He didn’t know what he had to do, but he was going to do anything he could to make the situation better.

 

~~~

 

They stepped outside into the summer heat, however the car had not arrived yet. They stood there awkwardly for a long time waiting, however 6:00 had come and gone and there was no sign of the car.

 

“I suppose that we will have to walk,” Gansey said, trying to tread lightly. He turned to look at Henry.

 

“Yes,” Henry said, with an iciness that still scared Gansey. They began to trudge to the gala that was taking place halfway across town.

 

“If it’s any consolation, I texted my mother and she said that we can end this within two weeks rather than four if you want to. So you don’t have to deal with me,” Gansey said. The dreaded, awkward silence came back. After a long pause, Gansey continued. “Hell, I wouldn’t even want to deal with me in this situation. I’ve really fucked up.”

 

“Yes,” Henry said again. It appeared to Gansey that yes would be the only word that Henry was going to say if the conversation kept going. He decided to keep going anyway.

 

“I mean really I think that if I can do anything to fix it I should. I mean I just want you to be happy I guess,” Gansey said.

 

“Really,” Henry said. He continued walking, facing straight ahead, trying to ignore Gansey without being rude at the same time. At least that’s what it seemed like to Gansey.

 

“I mean… I could call Cheng2 and ask for him to be your friend again?” Gansey suggested. Henry snorted quietly. Apparently that was not a good suggestion. Gansey sat silently in thought for a long time. “I mean even if I can do nothing to make up for it I promise that I’ll never go through your stuff again. That was a huge mistake.”

 

~~~

 

They finally made it to the gala, hot albeit safe. Henry was still mad but Gansey had to become the charming Gansey that the public knew instead of the Gansey that fucked up and read his friend’s text messages. 

 

“Hello Ms. Atlewood,” said Gansey. He and Henry were holding hands, but there was no real affection, no real meaning, behind the gesture. It was all for show. Just like everything else. 

 

“Why hello Mr. Dick! How do you do on this fine evening?” said a slightly elderly lady with a heavy southern drawl. She was rather short, but she seemed kind enough.

“I’m doing just fine Ms. Atlewood. And you?” Gansey said, trying to return the courtesy. It was harder to be charming now that he had monumentally fucked up, but at least he was trying.

 

“I’m doing quite well!” she responded. “And who is this fine… gentleman on your arm?”

 

“He’s my boyfriend Ms. Atlewood, as you may know from my mother’s most recent press release,” Gansey replied. He stood there awkwardly with Henry, waiting for Ms. Atlewood to reply.

 

“Oh. Well. That’s nice,” Ms. Atlewood said, looking down at her drink. “Well. I must go talk to someone else,” she said. She then promptly left the conversation.

 

The same sort of conversation kept happening over and over again each time Gansey began to chat up a new potential donor. The moment he mentioned that Henry was his boyfriend, people suddenly decided that they had to be somewhere else. It became disheartening.

 

Suddenly, Bernard walked up, behind Gansey. “Dick Gansey, you are going to have to give a speech,” Bernard said. Gansey jumped a bit; he wasn’t expecting Bernard to sneak up on him like that.

 

“Oh. Yes, of course. Should I walk over now?” Gansey said, with a trace of uncertainty in his voice. 

 

“I would say so. There’s a mic for you on the stage,” Bernard said.

 

The room the gala was being held in was a standard ballroom with tall tables sprinkled about the room. The abundance of red table cloths obviously showed off that Gansey’s mother was a republican, much like the vast majority of her supporters. There was a small stage that had been made almost specifically for the event that was being used to make announcements and speeches. Gansey made his way over to the small stage to begin to give his speech.

 

~~~

 

“Ladies and Gentlemen. We are gathered here today to support one of the most qualified candidates for office, one of the most dedicated civil servants, and of course the woman most fit to put an end to the endless corruption and moral decay of this great nation. That candidate is my mother!

 

My mother is one of the most dedicated women on earth and she will not stop to get the job done. Of course, this does not mean that she doesn’t have a motherly side. When I came out to her as bisexual, she helped me accept myself and realize everything that I could do for this great nation,” said Gansey. He saw Henry in the crowd. Gansey thought about everything that he had done wrong. Suddenly, he decided to veer off script.

 

“And look, everything I do may not be perfect. Everyone has bad days, everyone has parts of them that they do not like. However, I try my hardest every day to help my boyfriend Henry. I try to support him, and I fall short sometimes, but I do my very best. I do everything I can to make him as happy as possible. Because he means the world to me.

 

My mother has this same love but for our country. She is willing to dedicate her life to bettering it for us. She is willing to take on challenges that others are reluctant to. But it is this love of her nation that makes her such a good politician! Unlike other candidates, she is proven to vote on an agenda that all of us support. So without further ado, please welcome my mother to the stage.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this is so short and angsty (kinda like me)! School is kicking my ass so I have way less time to write. Hopefully I will update soon.


	8. Exit Strategy

Henry stood there, staring at Gansey. Part of him really wanted to believe the sincerity of Gansey’s words. Part of him wanted to believe that Gansey truly loved him. It was the same part of him that deepened the fake kiss with Gansey. He tried to ignore that feeling, to stay rational and realize that it was all for show, but it was difficult to do. Henry really thought that Gansey at least felt _bad_ about what he did, but he also didn’t want to fall into some sort of trap.

 

Deciding that he needed fresh air, Henry tried to find the closest exit. There was a large black door that ended up leading to a small sort of porch thing. He sat down and tried to collect himself.

 

He thought about what he’d done. He’d “dated” Henry Broadway while he was in love with someone else. Dating was a generous way to put hurried interactions in random closets and empty rooms but it was still the only word Henry had to describe it. 

 

He’d enjoyed it at the beginning; it was really rather nice. Cheng2 had noticed Henry’s longing glances at Gansey and he’d decided to ask Henry about it, casually. Henry had implied the crush and everything sort of came tumbling from there. Henry had forgotten about his crush on Gansey until the year after.

 

Of course, their relationship had to be secret for multiple reasons. It wouldn’t have been acceptable for them to be together openly, so instead they just pushed all of their more… romantic interactions to the nighttime. They’d meet up in the coat closet on the second floor and make out or go further or just simply talk. It was a nice sort of balance; confining everything to the closet made Henry’s life a lot easier.

 

Henry still didn’t understand why he had decided to fake date Gansey. Perhaps there was something so longing inside of him that he decided to come out of the closet. Maybe he was just tired of confining his actions with boys to the nighttime. At any rate, the choice had been (rather impulsively) made and Henry was now in DC fake dating Dick Gansey. 

 

Henry stared out into the hot night; his gaze met the brick wall on the other side of the alley. _Maybe people are like brick walls_ he thought. _Maybe we all want to be able to stand on our own, yet we are never able to. Maybe we all want closeness and yet it remains elusive._

 

Suddenly, the door opened. Henry scooted to the side of the small porch so as to allow whatever employee a place to stand while they took their smoke break. Henry sighed.

 

“Hey. I’m really sorry about what happened,” said the person. However, they were not some random banquet hall employee but in fact Richard Campbell Gansey III.

 

“Yeah,” Henry said, dejectedly.

 

“Like I really just wanted to make sure that you’re okay,” Gansey said. He sat down next to Henry.

 

“Doesn’t justify it,” Henry said, still irate about the whole situation. He looked into Gansey’s eyes.

 

“I know,” Gansey said. Gansey looked down at his feet.

 

“I just… I… I don’t know,” Henry said, stumbling over his words. He didn’t know how to phrase what he felt correctly. That had never been his talent.

 

“Look, you seemed really close to Cheng2 and I’m sorry that I had to fuck that up and I’m sorry that I had to mess this up and I swear that I was trying to make you feel better I just didn’t want you to feel bad and you wouldn’t tell me and I just_,” Gansey said, apologetically. Henry cut him off.

 

“Please spare me the explanation, I’m know what you’re going to say,” Henry said. He stared at the brick wall across from him.

 

“Henry,” Gansey said.

 

“Seriously Gansey,” Henry said, slightly annoyed.

 

“Henry!” Gansey said, this time much louder. 

 

“Let’s just wait for the month to be over and then we can just for_,” Henry said, trying to avoid the inevitable argument that was going to arise.

 

“HENRY!” Gansey shouted. Henry turned to him.

 

“What?” Henry said, this time slightly startled. Whatever Gansey was trying to say had to be important.

 

“I’m uh… I’m kind of in love with you?” Gansey said.

 

“Oh,” Henry said, softly. He realized that what Gansey did was not okay but at the same time it was not a malicious action. He began to forgive Gansey.

 

“Oh shit. I’m, I’m sorry I totally forgot that you aren’t actually gay and we can just forget that this ever happened, I mean really, we can_,” Gansey rambled, uncharacteristically. Henry could tell that he was uncomfortable. He smiled.

 

“Gansey,” Henry said, interrupting Gansey.

 

“Yes?” Gansey responded, nervously. His eyes were glued on Henry.

 

“I think that I would like to kiss you now,” Henry said. He looked back at Gansey, his nervousness apparent in his eyes.

 

“Oh?” Gansey said, surprised. Henry noticed the large smile on Gansey’s face.

 

“Yeah,” Henry said softly. He looked away, slightly embarrassed. The blush on his face was obvious.

 

“Okay,” Gansey said, softly, almost as if he didn't truly believe that Henry's offer was authentic. 

 

Gansey leaned in and started the kiss, but the moment Henry was actually able to register what was happening he began to kiss back. They sat there in the last rays of the setting sun kissing, but eventually it was way too humid outside for anything to be too romantic.

 

They broke apart and sat there, trying to process everything that had just happened.

 

“So, you uh,” Gansey started, “you, uh, felt that way about me?”

 

“Always,” Henry said, trying to catch his breath. Gansey smiled, and then he pulled Henry in for another kiss. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long, school is kicking my ass lmao. I also keep getting side tracked with other side projects so writing this takes way longer than it did during the summer. I'm really sorry about that (to my one reader) but I am trying to at least work on this upon occasion.


	9. Finally

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Henry and Gansey walk home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hahaha a year later and I've finally updated. Shout out to cactieroo whose comment singlehandedly encouraged me to write this chapter

“Hey Gansey-man, we should go back to your house,” Henry said, smiling. He ran his hand through his hair.

 

The party had been long, but Gansey had been far more ecstatic to hold hands and to be affectionate after their kiss outside. Gansey couldn’t stop smiling, and his enthusiasm actually helped a few donors calm down and contribute to his mother’s campaign.

 

“Of course. I’ll just let my mother know that we’re leaving,” Gansey said. After he’d gained her approval to go back to the townhouse, he grabbed Henry’s hand and departed. It was dark outside, but the darkness did little to quell the humid heat that permeated the city.

 

“How is the campaign going now?” Henry asked as they left the gala.

 

“Well, Bernard texted me while we were at the party, and we’re just supposed to do more public appearances,” Gansey said, checking his phone for updates. He’d ignored the text when it had first been received by his phone because he was so wrapped up in being with Henry _finally_.

 

“Ah. And where will you be taking me next Gansey Three?” Henry said, planting a stealthy kiss onto Gansey’s cheek. Another affectionate action not for the cameras. Gansey loved it. A blush began to bloom on his cheeks.

 

“The Smithsonian, probably,” Gansey responded. Crickets chirped in the comfortable silence as they continued their walk through the humid summer heat.

 

“Interesting,” Henry said. He changed the topic carefully to a more controversial issue. “About the phone incident.”

 

“God I’m so sorry. I monumentally fucked up, I’ll acknowledge it,” Gansey said. He still felt awful about what he did, his motive seemed paper thin upon examination.

 

“Thanks for apologizing. You did fuck up,” Henry said, smiling.

 

“Yeah, I know,” Gansey said, apologetically.

 

“It’s okay Dickie-boy, it won’t happen again,” Henry said. Gansey was glad to be granted forgiveness and internally made a promise with himself that it wouldn’t.

 

“Of course, I’ll be sure of it.”

 

“Good.”

 

“I’m sorry about ruining your friendship with Cheng2,” Gansey said. Henry started chuckling, which confused Gansey. What was so funny?

 

“Cheng2 and I weren’t exactly uh friends. More like, well, boyfriends,” Henry confessed. Gansey blushed, embarrassed by his misreading of the situation.

 

“Oh. That actually explains quite a bit,” Gansey said. It did, it explained why Henry had been so protective of his phone.

 

“Yeah. He uh. He was upset. I was dating him while I had a crush on you. That’s why he was so. Well, upset, man,”

 

“Hm. Is there any way to fix it?” Gansey said. He wanted to help his new boyfriend in any way possible, after making such a big mistake.

 

“I. I don’t know. Anyway, I got you now, bro,” Henry said, smiling again. Gansey loved Henry’s smile, he decided in that moment.

 

“Yes, yes you do,” Gansey said, returning Henry’s smile. They walked, happily holding each other’s hand in a comfortable silence. Finally, they reached the townhouse.

 

“That kiss was. It was something,” Gansey said breathlessly while he unlocked the door.

 

 “There’s more where it came from,” Henry said flirtatiously, while he slipped inside. Gansey followed him in.

 

~~~

 

They’d spent about 30 minutes sloppily making out in the entrance of the townhouse. Eventually, Henry had helped Gansey sit up on the kitchen counter while Henry stood in between his legs. They continued in that manner for quite a while, given that it was exactly what both of them had been dying to do.

 

Eventually, however, all good things come to an end, and this was no exception. Gansey’s phone rang, and he was about to hang up when he saw that it was Blue calling.

 

“Sorry, I have to take this,” Gansey said, sliding down from the counter.

 

“I understand Dick-Three.”

 

“Thanks.”

 

~~~

 

“How’s it going in DC,” Blue asked.

 

“I uh. Well. I kissed Henry. More like he kissed me. It was great. And then we came home and_.” Gansey stopped. He realized he was talking about kissing another boy with his girlfriend on the line.

 

“Ah. I’m glad,” Blue said. She continued: “Maybe we should break up. We’re like two lines that made an x and we’re connected now, but we’re going to diverge at some point. You’re going to go to a fancy Ivy League college, and I barely can afford college.”

 

“Blue. I. I don’t have to go to college,” Gansey said, in a last-ditch effort to mollify Blue.

 

“Don’t be stupid.” Blue paused. “It’s okay, it’s how things work.”

 

“I. Let’s think on it more,” Gansey said. He really didn’t want to lose Blue.

 

~~~

 

“How was the call, Dick-Three,” Henry said. He was plopped into a chair, reading the New York Times. Gansey had always preferred the Wall Street Journal.

 

“It was. Um. Blue wants to break up,” Gansey said. His face revealed all of his emotions surrounding the situation.

 

“That sucks, man. Can I do anything? Was it because of me?”

 

“No, not at all. She. She’s worried we’ll separate when I go to college. And since this gap year really isn’t going as planned, she does have a point.”

 

“I see. I’m really sorry about it,” Henry said.

 

“Oh, don’t be. I suppose whatever happens is meant to happen,” Gansey said. He walked over to Henry’s chair, and perched precariously on Henry’s lap. He planted yet another kiss on his lips.

 

“Mmmmm,” Henry said. “Gansey-love, we need to get to bed.”

 

Gansey glanced at the clock. It was way later than he had expected it to be, so he reluctantly leapt off of Henry’s lap and padded into the bathroom to brush his teeth. Henry soon followed suit.

 

Once they were finished and changed into their pajamas, they hopped into bed together. They struggled for a few minutes, trying to find a comfortable position. Finally, they decided that Henry would be the big spoon and Gansey would curl up with him.

 

Gansey planted a kiss on Henry’s lips before peacefully drifting off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, sorry Sarchengsey shippers, there's like 0 chengsey fic, so I think this one's gonna stay exclusively chengsey


End file.
